Any Sane Way To Acquire An Inquiry-class Starship?

[KirksFavoriteSon]

Hey everybody! Shaw here!

Like a lot of players, I used to sell lockbox keys on the in-game Exchange to raise enough credits to buy the occasional “lockbox starship” I wanted from second-hand sellers on the Exchange.

Why? Because, with a little patience, you were effectively guaranteed to get the ship you wanted eventually, whereas, by opening lockboxes or the “special packs” (like those currently holding the Inquiry-class ship these days) you could spend literally hundreds of dollars and never get what you hoped to find.

Unfortunately, the prices on the Exchange for “lockbox starships” seemed to rise sharply with the release of the Franklin-class starship from Star Trek: Beyond, to the point where sellers are now asking something like 1.2 billion credits for the Inquiry-class starship as I type this.

Lockbox keys sell for about 6000 to 7000 credits at best. You can see the problem with the math — the real-money costs for a single pixel ship get dizzyingly expensive.

So, does anyone here have any clever insights into how I might acquire an Inquiry-class ship in the game for a sane price? I’m not averse to spending a certain amount of real money for something that I know is rare, but I can’t afford what the Exchange is asking.

Is there some sort of “private auction” channel in-game? I’ve heard rumors of this before, but I figured it might be an in-game myth.

I really don’t want to deal with gold-sellers at all. Not only is the probability of credit card or identity theft too high for my taste, I really don’t want to encourage gold-sellers in STO — it’s like inviting ants to your own picnic, y’know? 🙂

I know I’m probably out-of-luck here, but I figured I’d ask the 44th Fleet brain trust. 🙂 I’ve met some clever Fleeties over the years, and one or more of you may very well have an angle on this situation that I can’t see.

Thanks for your time and attention! I hope everyone is safe and well, and that you remain so,

Cheers,

Shaw

aka @CobaltBlueHero

[Hollywood_NZ]

Hi Shaw

Resident Ferengi here.  Patience is the ‘key’.   The first question I have for you is what do you love about the Inquiry, and can that itch be scratched with something else.  If not, you need time.

There is an in-game Trading Channel (TheTradingChannel) and various Discord channel, but you won’t find the Inquiry for less then 1B, ever.  Ship prices are relatively static, yes they bounce around depending on sales etc, but over long periods of time they tend to follow predicable averages.

You would need 171 keys to make the 1.2B, which can get RL pricy, but you can offset this with careful dabbling in the Zen/Dil exchange, and buy keys with no RL investment.

I embarked on my Ferengi-ism last year, because I desperately wanted the Donnie, and I didn’t/couldn’t spend RL money on it.  Using a spreadsheet and a special set of skills, I got my ship and love it, but it took time doing it completely F2P.  Since then I have discovered an innate love of Exchange PVP, which is rewarding, but not for the faint of heart – you need to be prepared to take a bath on some investments.

There are lots of different ways to make EC, but there’s no guaranteed get rich scheme, you need to build a nest egg, then diversify, and then be patient.  Build the nest egg in the usual manner, Admiralty, Endeavors and selling of loot, maybe snag a 20 ket pack on sale when you can.

I can help you with starting out if you like, even mature a starting fund if you’d trust me to do so.  Hit me up here, or in game.

[Marcase]

Ship prizes are nuts. Just the other day I saw a T5 D’Kora go for 19 million ec which used to be under 10.

Re the Inquiry, it doesn’t help it isn’t a regular lobi/zen ship, so its price will remain in the ridiculous range.
Wish I could say something more useful, but that’s how it is.

You’re still my boy Blue!

"Boldly bashing Borg to bits since 2012..."

[KirksFavoriteSon]

Thank you for the speedy replies, captains! They are much appreciated!

NZ Mike, I am honored by your generosity in offering to help me invest my way to an Inquiry-class via Exchange PvP, but the process sounds too much like work for the both of us, even though I’m sure that you have the lobes for it. Heh heh.

Would I like to own an Inquiry-class starship? As a Trek fan, sure. But I play STO to have fun, and once fun starts to feel like work, I feel like I’m doing it wrong.

I will keep what you’ve told me in mind, however and, if for some reason, I can’t sleep at night without my dear Inquiry-class pixel starship, I will reach out to you sir. But for right now, I’m going to let things ride.

By the way, Mike, I’m grateful that you changed your in-game alias from Holy Schitt. I rarely replied to you in chat because I couldn’t bring myself to call you “Schitt”. It just seemed so … disrespectful, somehow, and the internet is already chock full of disrespect already. I didn’t want to add to the pile. Heh.

Marcase, you’re right, I am a little blue that I can’t zoom around in an Inquiry ship, but they’re only pixel toys at the end of the day — I’m sure I will survive, my friend!

Thank you, everyone, yet again. Be safe and be well!

See you around the galaxy,

Shaw

 

 

 

 

 

aka @CobaltBlueHero

[Hollywood_NZ]

Shaw,

First of all, I would like to respond to your comment about my handle.  To be fair I find it far more disrespectful that somebody didn’t want to reply to me in chat because of the way they felt about my in game handle, rather than than quality of the chat in which I engage.  Most people did and still call me Holy, and the uncomfortably one might feel was clearly not shared by me.  In any case that is a moot point.  I hope my new handle makes you feel more comfortable.

I wouldn’t have offered to assist you (or any other fleet-mate) if I didn’t want to, or I thought it was work, but your journey differs from mine. You asked for an alternative, I gave you one 🙂

LLAP

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